This document provides tips to avoid "death by PowerPoint" and boring students with overly text-heavy slides. Some key tips include: 1. Avoid putting all your talking points on the slides as it makes them boring to read and causes students to tune out. 2. Limit bullet points and only make one main point per slide to avoid overwhelming students with too much information. 3. Use images over words whenever possible to engage students visually and hold their attention better than walls of text. 4. Check your spelling and limit animations, sounds and transitions which can distract from your message if overused.

1. STOP
Killing Your Students with PowerPoint

2. can be highly boring for your students
and should only
be used by authorised
PowerPoint
Teachers

3. Warning

4. It's my duty to warn you

5. PowerPoint

6. How to avoid

7. a Slow Death by PowerPoint

8. (No students were harmed during the
making of this presentation)

9. The Top Cardinal Sins

10. Cardinal Sin 1

11. The Script

12. The problem is that most people
speak at

13. 150 WPM

14. Yet most people read at

15. 250 WPM

16. 1. Some teachers like to put every single thing they
are going to say on their slides. Although this
means that you do not have to remember what to
say on your slides. This makes your slides boring,
text heavy and causes your students eyes to
glaze over, the mobile phones come out and the
fidgeting begins. They begin to wonder why they
are even listening to you as they have already
used up all their brain power reading ahead and
drawing their own conclusions. All this before you
even reach the bottom of your. . .
Common PowerPoint Mistakes

17. 1. Continued - first slide
Common PowerPoint Mistakes

18. Cardinal Sin 2

19. Dodging Bullets

20. Example

21. This is a Very Important Slide
• In case you had not understood the fact that this is a very important slide
from the heading I am going to make sure that you read the information
again in many different ways
• The problem with very important slides (VIS) is that you try to get as much
information on to them as possible
• Because as we all know in teaching you can’t just say something once you
have to make sure its said or shown three times in three different ways to
get the same message across!
• That way the little blighters can’t say you did not tell them
• The sad thing is this causes Teachers to use PowerPoint's with lots of
different levels and bullet points to put across the same key message (over
and over again!)
– Here it is again – I am important – read me!
• Have you got the point yet
– Please remember I am important too even if I am a third level bullet point
• It does not matter how many different ways you try to cram the information in
– Nobody is going to read it anyway
• So its all pretty pointless
– And you end up wasting your time
» Want students to read ? Give it to them on paper! A slide is not the place to do it
• Whoopee!

22. Not exactly exciting is it?

23. To a student this is a signal to

25. Followed with a sprinkling of these

27. And time to catch up on

29. • Avoid
• Using
• Too
• Many
• Bullet
• Points
• To
• Try
• To
• Get
• Your
• Message
• Across
Common PowerPoint Mistakes
• To
• Your
• Class
• Too
• Many
• And
• Your
• Key
• Messages
• Will
• Be
• Lost
• And all
• That
• Animation
• And
• Annoying
• Sound
• Effects
• Make
• Students
• Want
• To leave
• To go
• To the
• Bathroom

30. Ditch the bullet
points!

31. Cardinal Sin 3

32. Spell Checks

33. Many Teachers do not even run a spell cheek
before their presentation!
BIG MISTAK – Nothing makes you look more
stupid that selling errrs
Common PowerPoint Mistakes

34. Cardinal Sin 4

35. People who love data

36. Think that more is better?
Amount
Month
Student Levels
Level 4
Level 5
Level 6
Level 7
Level 8

37. More Data

38. Effectiveness

39. Let's demonstrate this

40. By adding more!

41. Jan Feb Mar April May June
Level 4 125 42 29 28 54 22
Level 5 265 152 128 57 52 45
Level 6 85 155 150 123 68 85
Level 7 35 24 41 25 125 75
Level 8 21 87 65 65 165 95
Amount
Month
Student Levels
Level 4
Level 5
Level 6
Level 7
Level 8

42. Jan Feb Mar April May June
Level 4 125 42 29 28 54 22
Level 5 265 152 128 57 52 45
Level 6 85 155 150 123 68 85
Level 7 35 24 41 25 125 75
Level 8 21 87 65 65 165 95
Level 4, Jan , 125
Level 4, Feb, 42
Level 4, Mar, 29 Level 4, April, 28
Level 4, May, 54
Level 4, June, 22
Level 5, Jan , 265
Level 5, Feb, 152
Level 5, Mar, 128
Level 5, April, 57 Level 5, May, 52
Level 5, June, 45
Level 6, Jan , 85
Level 6, Feb, 155 Level 6, Mar, 150
Level 6, April, 123
Level 6, May, 68
Level 6, June, 85
Level 7, Jan , 35
Level 7, Feb, 24
Level 7, Mar, 41
Level 7, April, 25
Level 7, May, 125
Level 7, June, 75
Level 8, Jan , 21
Level 8, Feb, 87
Level 8, Mar, 65 Level 8, April, 65
Level 8, May, 165
Level 8, June, 95
Amount
Month
Student Levels
Level 4
Level 5
Level 6
Level 7
Level 8

43. In some desperate attempt

44. To convince you of their point

45. Cardinal Sin 5

46. Bad Colour Schemes
• Clashing backgrounds and font colours can
lead to
– Thumping headache
– Motion sickness
– Distraction
– Unexplained rashes
– Mental confusion
– Continual fidgeting
– Loss of bladder control

47. Cardinal Sin 6

48. Animation

49. Can be good

50. For visual learners

51. Animation
Can be
effective
But use too
muchAnd you end up
with your
students
Going
WOW!
This is just
so cool
And not actually
Taking
Any notice
Of what
You are trying to
say

52. And your PowerPoint becomes this

53. Animation
Blah
Boring
Like this one?
WOW!
Look at me
Woo Hoo
Wheee
Yawn
Fidget
Blah Blah Blah

54. More Animation

55. Less Effect

56. So how do you get away from
mindless text and bullets?

58. We’ve all heard the proverb

59. A picture is

60. words

61. The Secret is to use MORE Pictures

62. And Fewer
Words!

63. Capture
their
imagination

64. While you provide the explanation

65. Whatever you
do,
don’t READ
your slides

66. Be CREATIVE with your Imagery

67. And hold a
conversation
with your
Audience

68. In other words, engage them!!
storage
space

69. Evoke emotion
storage
space

70. computer
Sometimes the
best slides have
no text at all

71. Have you gotten it yet?

72. Less is more

73. Good communication
taps into multiple
senses

74. If you can’t explain it in
short and simple terms

75. Then you
don’t
understand
your own
message

76. Only use
images that
match your
message

77. …and evoke emotion

78. Too muchtext & data are

79. • bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad
bad bad bad
– bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad
bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad
bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad
•bad
• bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad
bad bad bad
» bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad
bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad
bad bad bad bad bad bad bad
» bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad

80. Never use clipart!

81. imit

82. Your
Words
Per
Slide

83. Less text and data are

84. G d

85. Make only
ONE
point per slide

86. Dodge the bullets

87. Don’t use bad colour
schemes

88. Check
your
spelling

89. Use
pictures
That
convey
your
meaning

90. Now it's your turn

93. Killing your students

94. 1. Don McMillan (life after death by Powerpoint)
2. Death by PowerPoint (and how to fight it) by Alexei
Kapterev
3. Dodging bullets in presentations by Rowan Manahan
(fortifyservices. Blogspot.com)
4. Flikr-Storm
5. www.slideshare.net
6. www.google.co.uk/images
7. Music from www.freeplaymusic.com track – “Warped”
8. Music from www.freeplaymusic.com track – “She will
stop”
9. Music from www.freeplaymusic.com track – “Misfit”
With Thanks To

95. Adapted from
Slideshare
Jacqueline
Hicks, 2008
Lead Teacher of
ICT
www.sheldonict
@live.co.uk